Continuous problems with the Tahoe...

First, let me thank those who have already helped us in trying to figure this thing out. And thanks Charles for making all the posts for me since I just don't have the time anymore... hopefully that will change soon. This is long but I am desperately in need of help so I figured that I would get all of the details in.

Let me start from the beginning...
1. Around a year ago the SES light would come on intermittently, usually at turns, but never stayed solidly on.

2. Around the same time I was starting to smell coolant but there were no puddles under the truck. There was however coolant around the manifold and it appeared that was where it was coming from. Responses that we got on the issue was that the coolant was eating through the gaskets and causing the leak. They also made a note to check the oil to make sure no coolant wasn't getting in there. Bruce (batmanjr) was borrowing the truck at the time so he replaced the intake gasket and the oil was okay. It seemed to help a little but it was still loosing a little bit of coolant. The SES light was still coming on but not as frequent.

3. Then in April, the truck was riding rough. Idle was bad and a lot of hesitation. At first it wasn’t too bad… not enough for Charles to notice but I certainly did as I drive it everyday. Over the course of two weeks it kept getting worse. In the final 2 or 3 days it was HORRIBLE. I could tell it had to do something with the fuel system because it seemed to want to buckle when I stepped on the gas and of course there was the hesitation. Exhaust sounded bad too. Finally on my way home from work one day, I was stopped at a light and it just died. I kept turning the ignition and it wouldn’t start. I knew it wasn’t the battery or alternator because I was still getting plenty of power. Finally, after sitting there for a few minutes (and the people behind me getting mad – like I could help it /forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif), I tried again and it started. And of course, thanks to the Austin traffic, I had to stop again. Same thing happened, it died, I tried and tried, waited a few minutes then it started. Eventually got home that night and got it to the dealership. They adjusted the camshaft timing and fuel pressure regulator.

4. Seemed to help a little but after a week or two it was happening all over again so I took it back. The money (blood) suckers ended up replacing the fuel pump… well the whole fuel sending unit. Finally that problem was solved… or so it seemed.

5. Over the next few months replaced the tie rods, several alignments, brake pads, and rotors – nothing having to do with this other than more frustrations and money.

6. Then it was the anti-freeze problem again in August. This time there were puddles under the truck. Kept refilling the anti-freeze until we could work on it but it was leaking so fast that the temp was running real high. Unfortunately it took about 2 weeks until we could finally get around to it but we replaced the all the hoses and the water pump. The water pump was bad so that ended that problem and finally no more anti-freeze smells or leaks.

7. Here comes September. The SES light is on again, the truck was running rough again, and it developed a really loud knocking noise. /forums/images/graemlins/angryfire.gif Billy Ray ran a test on it and showed to be the spark plugs. The exhaust also had a really rich smell to it and there was white smoke coming out of the left exhaust pipe (it’s dual). The exhaust from the left side comes out with a fast pulse while the right side is coming out smooth and with no smoke. We did an oil change and replaced the spark plugs and wires and it seemed to help with the roughness but after two days, the roughness and hesitation was back again. So I took it in to get an induction cleaning. After that, it was running the smoothest than it ever had before… strong and no hesitation, which brings me to today and the current problems…

8. The smoke, rich exhaust, horrible rumbling exhaust noise, and knocking noise hasn’t gotten any better and there are still black deposits coming out of the exhaust when I romp on the gas hard. And now the truck is running rough again. The knocking noise calms down and goes away after the engine warms up. Also, about three days ago, a funny thing happened with the temp… it maxed out on the gage all of a sudden, stayed there for a couple of seconds, and then it quickly dropped back down to normal. I haven’t had that happen since the water pump was replaced. There was a small antifreeze smell but no signs of leakage. Checked the antifreeze and it was a little low. Then this morning as I was pulling away from the house, the truck didn’t want to go and it felt like it was about to die and then all of a sudden it jumped forward and started going. Major hesitation, almost like it wasn’t getting any gas. It kept doing it and rode really rough until I was on the highway and then it got a little better. Soon after that, the temp maxed out on me again and then dropped back to normal quickly. Then it fluctuated between 165 and 210 all the way to work. Just checked the antifreeze at lunch and it was low again. I put in about a quart (all I had left) but it still needs more… still no signs of leakage. My feeling is that it still has fuel system problems… at least to me that is the way it seems to be acting and riding. Maybe something with the computer? And now antifreeze problems again.

Don’t know what else to do. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Please, can anyone shed some light? Or any suggestions, other than getting a '03 2500HD crew cab. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif Sorry for the lengthiness but like I said, I just wanted to get all the details in. I am just so damn frustrated with this truck that it is about to become target practice. /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif

it sounds like you have ran it hot and you have cracked a head or you have a crack in the cylinder wall. coolant is mixing in the combustion chamber. this will cause a fuel system problem its either too rich or too lean the computer will senses this and cause it to run badly . it just takes a small crack to cause this. this is just my thought i am trying to help go to a local parts store and ask for some alum .seal radaitor sealer in comes in a small round plastic tube it looks like some ground up alum. put a tube of it in you radaitor and drive it and see what happens .. i have used it in several of our work trucks that have had the vortec intake leak and it has stopped them so far.. i have one 96 that had an intake leak at 233k it has 298k on it now and has not leaked again. its worth a shot its only about 2$ a tube

Thanks! I'll have to try that. Charles thought it could be the same thing. Last night I put some more antifreeze in to refill it completely and boy, it sure did loose a lot. I still couldn't find any leaks nor smelt anything but I know it's going somewhere.

what year is your tahoe? my buddy had almost the same problems with his p.u, they ended up replacing the intake, egr. and doing a tune up. cost him quite a bit of money. that was 5 months ago and now it needs a cat, an exhaust and more.
you could try that sealant but you would only be band-aiding the problem. what i am saying is look at how much you are gonna spend to fix it versus's how much it's worth. i say go for the HD and unload you problem to the dealer and enjoy the new ride.

I hear ya. The Tahoe is a '99. We have more ideas on what the problems could be and I know that when I finish repairing everything (including what I have already done) it's gonna be a costly amount. The exhaust is already on the list. We did put the sealant in and it seems to have helped a little but like you said, it's just a band-aid. I'm just hoping that band-aid and a few other repairs like the head gasket will get me through another year. The problem with getting the HD is that I only have 10 more months of paying on the Tahoe. And I really don't want another truck payment because I plan on quitting my job in the summer to go for my math degree. I figure that if I can jsut pay this off, then I can just replace the whole engine and finish with all of the costly repairs.

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